18.Nov.2012, part 2 - US as World-Class Bully, War in Gaza, Targeting Civilians, FBI's Abuse of Surveillance State, Death of a Liberal Class, Truth About Palestine, BP Settlement is a Wrist Slap, Netanyahu is a Maniac

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US as World-Class Bully
The latest international incident involving the United States and Iran occurred on November 1st when fighter planes belonging to Iran shot at a US drone and missed. The Obama administration was forced to acknowledge the incident after stories in the media surfaced about the attack. On November 8th, Pentagon press secretary George Little said the attack was unprecedented and that the drone was flying in international air space while on a surveillance operation.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/US-as-World-Class-Bully-by-Mary-Wentworth-121116-949.html

War In Gaza: Why Now?
A little over a week after the election, Israel launched a "targeted assassination" against the leader of Hamas (who Haaretz called Israel's subcontractor in Gaza). That is what started the current round of fighting. Rabbi Arthur Waskow agrees that Israel started the fighting.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/War-In-Gaza-Why-Now-by-Washington-s-Blog-121116-749.html

Gaza: The Gates of Wrath and Sorrow Swing Open Once Again
The gates of wrath and sorrow open wide again in Gaza, clanging on their rusty, bloodstained hinges.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Gaza-The-Gates-of-Wrath-a-by-Chris-Floyd-121116-452.html

Targeting Civilians: Israel's Specialty
Bullies choose easy adversaries to pummel. Equal fights are shunned. It's the same in schoolyards or battlefields. America and Israel operate this way. They avoid foes able to give as much as they take. Rogue governments never say they're sorry.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Targeting-Civilians-Israe-by-Stephen-Lendman-121117-320.html

FBI's Abuse of the Surveillance State is the Real Scandal Needing Investigation

The Petraeus scandal is receiving intense media scrutiny obviously due to its salacious aspects, leaving one, as always, to fantasize about what a stellar press corps we would have if they devoted a tiny fraction of this energy to dissecting non-sex political scandals (this unintentionally amusing New York Times headline from this morning - "Concern Grows Over Top Military Officers' Ethics" - illustrates that point: with all the crimes committed by the US military over the last decade and long before, it's only adultery that causes "concern" over their "ethics"). Nonetheless, several of the emerging revelations are genuinely valuable, particularly those involving the conduct of the FBI and the reach of the US surveillance state.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/13-2

Once Again—Death of the Liberal Class

The presidential election exposed the liberal class as a corpse. It fights for nothing. It stands for nothing. It is a useless appendage to the corporate state. It exists not to make possible incremental or piecemeal reform, as it originally did in a functional capitalist democracy; instead it has devolved into an instrument of personal vanity, burnishing the hollow morality of its adherents. Liberals, by voting for Barack Obama, betrayed the core values they use to define themselves—the rule of law, the safeguarding of civil liberties, the protection of unions, the preservation of social welfare programs, environmental accords, financial regulation, a defiance of unjust war and torture, and the abolition of drone wars. The liberal class clung desperately during the long nightmare of this political campaign to one or two issues, such as protecting a woman’s right to choose and gender equality, to justify its complicity in a monstrous evil. This moral fragmentation—using an isolated act of justice to define one’s self while ignoring the vast corporate assault on the nation and the ecosystem along with the pre-emptive violence of the imperial state—is moral and political capitulation. It fails to confront the evil we have become. 

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/12-8

War with Iran? 5 ways events overseas could shape Obama's second term.
By the time President Obama renews his oath of office at the United States Capitol next January, he may have only a few short months to avoid another war in the Middle East – this one over Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2012/1109/War-with-Iran-5-ways-events-overseas-could-shape-Obama-s-second-term/Iran

The International Solidarity Movement Wants to Tell You the Truth About Palestine
The International Solidarity Movement has people ready to talk about what is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza on media outlets and in a number of languages. These are the people Rachel Corrie was working for when she was killed by an Israeli bulldozer operator. He was exonerated.
http://mantiqaltayr.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/the-international-solidarity-movement-wants-to-tell-you-the-truth-about-palestine/

The BP Settlement Is A Wrist Slap; Corporate Charter Should Be Revoked

Netanyahu Is “A Maniac”

Israel spy scandal politician in running for CIA director

14.Nov.2012 - FFRF Sues IRS on Church Electioneering, the Surveillance State, America Isn't the Greatest Country Anymore, ICC Should bring War Criminals to Justice, Red-State Residents Want to Secede, 4 More years of the Same, Palestinian Declaration of Independence, Military's Fall from Grace, Effective Whistleblowing Charity Policies, BBC Scandel

NEW TWITTER ACCOUNT! http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenews 

Don't forget to go to dustcircle.com and VOTE for which book we'll be giving away in December. There's also a Donation button, if you're inclined to give toward this site. Also, have you written a book? We'd like to read and review it. 

- STEVE, Editor :)

FFRF sues IRS to enforce church electioneering ban

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking the Internal Revenue Service to court over its failure to enforce electioneering restrictions against churches and religious organizations, calling it a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and of FFRF’s equal protection rights. FFRF filed the lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. (View the lawsuit here.) 

http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/16091-ffrf-sues-irs-to-enforce-church-electioneering-ban

The Surveillance State 
FBI's abuse of the surveillance state is the real scandal needing investigation
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33017.htm

FBI's Abuse of the Surveillance State is the Real Scandal Needing Investigation

The Petraeus scandal is receiving intense media scrutiny obviously due to its salacious aspects, leaving one, as always, to fantasize about what a stellar press corps we would have if they devoted a tiny fraction of this energy to dissecting non-sex political scandals (this unintentionally amusing New York Times headline from this morning - "Concern Grows Over Top Military Officers' Ethics" - illustrates that point: with all the crimes committed by the US military over the last decade and long before, it's only adultery that causes "concern" over their "ethics"). Nonetheless, several of the emerging revelations are genuinely valuable, particularly those involving the conduct of the FBI and the reach of the US surveillance state.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/13-2

Powers Designed for 'Terrorists' Entangle US Top Brass

As the New York Times reports Tuesday morning that the Petraeus sex scandal has now spread and the Pentagon has initiated an investigation into top NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General John Allen, what is becoming increasingly clear—beyond all the seemingly bizarre twists of this unfolding drama and leaving aside the question about whether or not the private sexual lives of top officials are, in fact, worthy of the endless media blitz they receive—is that the FBI's ability to examine private email accounts during an investigation are having far-reaching, if not ironic, consequences.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/13

America Isn't The Greatest Country Anymore

Via Lance Roberts of Street Talk Live - This weekend I had my first opportunity to watch "Newsroom," an HBO series, and I was struck by the opening sequence of the show as Jeff Daniels, aka Will McAvoy, discusses why America WAS the greatest country in the world - but no longer is.   Here are the stats as he breaks them down:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33014.htm

Poll: One-Third of Americans Would Accept Cavity Searches By TSA

In past columns, I have lamented how our government has not only stripped away core civil liberties from citizens, but that citizens have become increasing passive and accepting of the loss of such freedoms. A new poll conducted by Harris Interactive offers a particularly chilling measure of just how passive and accepting citizens have become to the new realities of our internal security system. The poll found almost one third of American adults would accept a “TSA body cavity search” in order to fly. Moreover a majority believes that it is reasonable to criminalize the act of disobeying any TSA agent. 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33022.htm

ICC should increase efforts to bring war criminals to justice: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [press release] theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] on Monday to improve its impact and stimulate cooperation amongst the international community as the court enters its second decade. HRW not only emphasized the importance for ICC member countries to strengthen their efforts in making arrests of known suspects harbored within their borders, but also called upon the ICC to establish a stronger dialogue with the UN Security Council [official website] in order to facilitate arrests and prosecutions. 

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/11/icc-should-increase-efforts-to-bring-war-criminals-to-justice-hrw.php

Some Red-State Residents Say They Want to Secede -- But Their States Wouldn't Be Able to Sustain Themselves

If CA were to secede, the state would have a nearly balanced budget. If AL were to secede, it wouldn't be able to pay for stop signs.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/some-red-state-residents-say-they-want-secede-their-states-wouldnt-be-able-sustain

How This Do-Nothing Election Did Not (and Will Not) Change the World

Neither candidate focused on securing a legislative body that would mean an actual mandate for change.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-do-nothing-election-did-not-and-will-not-change-world

Four More Years Of The Same
Surveys conducted outside the US shortly before polling day showed Obama was the preferred candidate in every country but two – Pakistan and Israel. But unlike Pakistan, where the two candidates were equally unpopular, he scored just 22 per cent in Israel against a commanding 57 per cent for Mitt Romney.
http://www.countercurrents.org/cook141112.htm

Translating The Palestinian Declaration Of Independence
This Palestinian Declaration of Independence explicitly accepted the UN General Assembly's Partition Resolution 181(II) of 1947, which called for the creation of a Jewish state and an Arab state in the former Mandate for Palestine, together with an international trusteeship for the City of Jerusalem. The significance of the PNC's acceptance of partition in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence itself cannot be overemphasized.
http://www.countercurrents.org/boyle141112.htm

Government Surveillance Is On The Rise, Google Confirms
Google Inc. said government requests to remove content from its search results and other services rose 71 percent in the first half of the year, according to a new report.
http://www.countercurrents.org/cc141112B.htm

The New Grand Old Party
The defeat of 2012 is forcing Republicans to rethink what they stand for. What will the new conservatism look like?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2012/11/_2012_election_lessons_and_republican_recriminations_what_will_a_reformed.html

Google: Government Surveillance Requests Are Way Up—and the U.S. Is the Leader
Skeptics often dismiss those concerned about growing levels of surveillance as paranoid conspiracy theorists. But Google’s latest transparency report, released Tuesday, shows the fears are grounded in reality: Government surveillance is on the rise.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/11/14/google_transparency_report_shows_government_surveillance_takedown_requests.html

For The Military, A Possible Fall From Grace

Although the story so far is of a personal failing, it's possible that the widening sex scandal surrounding retired Gen. David Petraeus will begin to affect the military's reputation as a whole.

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/13/165045924/for-the-military-a-possible-fall-from-grace?ft=3&f=1001&sc=nl&cc=nh-20121114

Why an effective whistleblowing policy is important for charities
If staff concerns about wrongdoing are not handled properly, an organisation's reputation could come under threat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/nov/14/whistleblowing-important-charities

New Whistleblower Protections Could Impact Food Safety Oversight

A new bill on its way to President Obama’s desk for approval aims to improve protections for whistleblowers working in the federal government, including those in food-related areas such as veterinarians, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors and U.S. Food and Drug Administration employees.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/11/new-whistleblower-protections-could-impact-food-safety-oversight/

BBC Scandal Exposes Cover-Up of Host Jimmy Savile’s Pedophilia, Fueling Public Broadcaster’s Foes

DOWNLOAD:  VIDEOAUDIOGET CD/DVDMORE FORMATS

"Mea Maxima Culpa": New Doc Exposes Horror of Catholic Child Sex Abuser and Heroism of His Victims

DOWNLOAD:  VIDEOAUDIOGET CD/DVDMORE FORMATS

As Talks Begin on "Fiscal Cliff," Report Warns "Fix the Debt" a Front for More Corporate Bailouts

Robert Reich on the Fiscal Cliff: ‘We’re Back to Where We Were Before the Election’

Netanyahu: Engineering Consent For An Attack On Gaza

An Incredibly Simple Way to Escape from Wrist-Binding Zip Ties

F.B.I. Giving Agents New Powers in Revised Manual - NYTimes.com

NYTimes.com
[REPRINT]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.

Valerie E. Caproni, the F.B.I. general counsel, said the bureau had carefully considered each change to its operations manual.

The F.B.I. soon plans to issue a new edition of its manual, called the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, according to an official who has worked on the draft document and several others who have been briefed on its contents. The new rules add to several measures taken over the past decade to give agents more latitude as they search for signs of criminal or terrorist activity.

The F.B.I. recently briefed several privacy advocates about the coming changes. Among them, Michael German, a former F.B.I. agent who is now a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that it was unwise to further ease restrictions on agents’ power to use potentially intrusive techniques, especially if they lacked a firm reason to suspect someone of wrongdoing.

“Claiming additional authorities to investigate people only further raises the potential for abuse,” Mr. German said, pointing to complaints about the bureau’s surveillance of domestic political advocacy groups and mosques and to an inspector general’s findings in 2007 that the F.B.I. had frequently misused “national security letters,” which allow agents to obtain information like phone records without a court order.

Valerie E. Caproni, the F.B.I. general counsel, said the bureau had fixed the problems with the national security letters and had taken steps to make sure they would not recur. She also said the bureau, which does not need permission to alter its manual so long as the rules fit within broad guidelines issued by the attorney general, had carefully weighed the risks and the benefits of each change.

“Every one of these has been carefully looked at and considered against the backdrop of why do the employees need to be able to do it, what are the possible risks and what are the controls,” she said, portraying the modifications to the rules as “more like fine-tuning than major changes.”

Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of investigations, called an “assessment.” The category, created in December 2008, allows agents to look into people and organizations “proactively” and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity.

Under current rules, agents must open such an inquiry before they can search for information about a person in a commercial or law enforcement database. Under the new rules, agents will be allowed to search such databases without making a record about their decision.

Mr. German said the change would make it harder to detect and deter inappropriate use of databases for personal purposes. But Ms. Caproni said it was too cumbersome to require agents to open formal inquiries before running quick checks. She also said agents could not put information uncovered from such searches into F.B.I. files unless they later opened an assessment.

The new rules will also relax a restriction on administering lie-detector tests and searching people’s trash. Under current rules, agents cannot use such techniques until they open a “preliminary investigation,” which — unlike an assessment — requires a factual basis for suspecting someone of wrongdoing. But soon agents will be allowed to use those techniques for one kind of assessment, too: when they are evaluating a target as a potential informant.

Agents have asked for that power in part because they want the ability to use information found in a subject’s trash to put pressure on that person to assist the government in the investigation of others. But Ms. Caproni said information gathered that way could also be useful for other reasons, like determining whether the subject might pose a threat to agents.

The new manual will also remove a limitation on the use of surveillance squads, which are trained to surreptitiously follow targets. Under current rules, the squads can be used only once during an assessment, but the new rules will allow agents to use them repeatedly. Ms. Caproni said restrictions on the duration of physical surveillance would still apply, and argued that because of limited resources, supervisors would use the squads only rarely during such a low-level investigation.

The revisions also clarify what constitutes “undisclosed participation” in an organization by an F.B.I. agent or informant, which is subject to special rules — most of which have not been made public. The new manual says an agent or an informant may surreptitiously attend up to five meetings of a group before those rules would apply — unless the goal is to join the group, in which case the rules apply immediately.

At least one change would tighten, rather than relax, the rules. Currently, a special agent in charge of a field office can delegate the authority to approve sending an informant to a religious service. The new manual will require such officials to handle those decisions personally.

In addition, the manual clarifies a description of what qualifies as a “sensitive investigative matter” — investigations, at any level, that require greater oversight from supervisors because they involve public officials, members of the news media or academic scholars.

The new rules make clear, for example, that if the person with such a role is a victim or a witness rather than a target of an investigation, extra supervision is not necessary. Also excluded from extra supervision will be investigations of low- and midlevel officials for activities unrelated to their position — like drug cases as opposed to corruption, for example.

The manual clarifies the definition of who qualifies for extra protection as a legitimate member of the news media in the Internet era: prominent bloggers would count, but not people who have low-profile blogs. And it will limit academic protections only to scholars who work for institutions based in the United States.

Since the release of the 2008 manual, the assessment category has drawn scrutiny because it sets a low bar to examine a person or a group. The F.B.I. has opened thousands of such low-level investigations each month, and a vast majority has not generated information that justified opening more intensive investigations.

Ms. Caproni said the new manual would adjust the definition of assessments to make clear that they must be based on leads. But she rejected arguments that the F.B.I. should focus only on investigations that begin with a firm reason for suspecting wrongdoing.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 13, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: F.B.I. AGENTS GET LEEWAY TO PUSH PRIVACY BOUNDS.